How to Identify Ganache Frosting

Chocolate ganache is a delectable chocolate sauce frequently used in French cooking, specifically in desserts. You'll find ganache used as a frosting, glaze or dip for a variety of baked goods and as filling for chocolates. You can even use it as a base for truffles. Identify ganache by evaluating its taste, appearance and texture.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Taste different varieties of ganache to determine the flavor. Ganache frosting is semisweet chocolate and heavy cream melted together, so you should taste a rich, pure chocolate flavor. You can also enhance ganache by adding a variety of liqueurs or extracts, such as coffee, amaretto or vanilla, so in addition to the rich, creamy chocolate you may taste a hint of one or more flavors.
2. Look at chocolate frosting to determine whether it's ganache. Ganache is usually either a thin, dark chocolate glaze, or a fluffy, lighter-colored chocolate frosting. Thinner glazes often have a small amount of corn syrup added in, giving them a shiny finish. Whipped, spreadable frostings are a light and fluffy version of ganache, perfect for topping a cake.
3. Evaluate the texture of chocolate frosting to decide whether it's ganache. Chocolate ganache is rich and velvety in texture. There should be no lumps or weak chocolate flavor, as ganache is from high quality, pure chocolate. The thick and silky texture melts in your mouth.

Tips & Warnings

• Ganache is only as good as the quality of the chocolate used to make it. For delicious results, whether you're baking yourself or purchasing a dessert, be sure your ganache is made with high quality French, Swiss or Italian chocolate.